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Publisher's Summary

Death-row prisoners with nightmare pasts and no future.... Until they were selected for a secret experiment....to create something more than human.

Now they are the future and humanity's worst nightmare has begun. The Twelve is the epic sequel to The Passage. Read by Scott Brick. Actor and writer Scott Brick has performed on film, television and radio. His stage appearances throughout the U.S. include Cyrano, Hamlet, and Macbeth.

In the audio industry, Scott has won over thirty Earphone Awards, as well as the 2003 Audie Award in the Best Science Fiction category. Having recorded over 300 books to date, AudioFile Magazine named Scott "one of the fastest-rising stars in the audiobook galaxy" and proclaimed him one of their Golden Voices.

This is amazing. When I reviewed The Passage I had lost faith with it about a third of the way through. I did go back to it and fell in love with it.....and then The Twelve. Justin Cronin has done something amazing - weaves a story which reflects and reviews the Passage whilst moving the story forward. I needed to read both to totally appreciate the writing, the story, and the premiss. If you love Stephen King 'end of the world tales' like the stand and under the dome, you will adore this end of the world survivors story. The characters are amazing and well written, the story is interwoven between the Passage and the Twelve and I am awaiting with glee part 3 of the trilogy. This is not the glittery romantic vampire tales you may be used to - it is deeper, darker and so much much more. Move over Frannie Goldmsith and Katniss Everdean there is a new girl in town, and she is my new virtual best friend ....... Amy Bellafonte.

The Passage was one of my absolute favorite books. I found that the story was fresh, well written and totally engrossing - and the narration by Scot Brick was excellent. Therefore, I had eagerly awaited the release of The Twelve and downloaded it on its first day of release on Audible. To say that I was bitterly disappointed by The Twelve would be a criminal understatement!

The great narration by Scot Brick is still there, but the quality in the writing and story that was present in The Passage is gone. It's like the book has been written by a different author.

The characters that I Ioved in Book 1 are totally unrecognisable and the story drags on without purpose. I lost interest and didn't care what happened to the characters, as they were really getting on my nerves!

It's quite sad that it seems the author wanted to turn the brilliant story that he started in The Passage into a trilogy just for the sake of it. I will most definitely not be getting Book 3 when it comes out.

What made the experience of listening to The Twelve the most enjoyable?

My complaints about The Passage were few and far between, I did love the book, although it took a while to get going after the first part of the book when it jumped 92 years in the future with a whole new cast, as it took a while to get going again after it did this having to spend a lot of time introducing us to many new characters in a vastly different world. The Twelve avoids this and nearly every single page is edge of your seat listening.

The book opens up with a quick reminder of the events of The Passage and picks up 5 years later. Then the author throws us back 97 years to year 0 of the viral outbreak and the war with a mostly new group of characters, an old face from the first part of the passage as well as one or two others that we know a little about from the first book. This part of the book is incredible; it really does not waste its time in ramping up the action. The next part of the book brings us back to year 97AV with Peter and the gang. Again this last half of the book is brilliant.

The only niggle really is a brief section adding to the back-story for the man who was to become General Voorhees. It does end up being worthwhile but this small section does take a short while to get going.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Twelve?

The year 0 war has some stunning sections. The viral hordes wiping out cities, the air force bombing back the charging viral forms. Really incredible writing excellently performed.

What does Scott Brick bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

His narration is amazing, he brings a lot of life to these characters and does not overdo the female roles. However, there is one character that he overdoes the accent for. The character is immortal, but if one person with an accent was around only other people with an American accent for a century, their own accent would eventually fade. There was no reason to do this. This is really nit picking though as the character in question only has a few lines. It just stands out more as the rest of the narration is so flawless by comparison

An excellent sequel to a superb first novel. If you enjoyed the first and are considering continuing the adventure, then I highly recommend it. If you have not read either book and like the Zombie/Action genre, then you are missing out and you should use your credits accordingly now!

I finished the Passage and hit the play button again to listen a second time. I never listen or read a book twice but I was that impressed with the passage I couldn't help myself!

I counted down the days to the release of The Twelve. I have to say I'm disappointed. I had to work hard to stay focused and tended to switch off. I had visions of devouring the story like one of the creatures in the story but I found it quite the chore to stay. Shame.

I absolutely loved the story telling of The Passage and the characters. I have listened to it 4 times since its release and in the run up to the 2nd book's release. So, The Twelve; The narration by Scott Brick is still outstanding. However, I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. This book I found VERY confusing. The story didn't flow as well as The Passage and it was unnecessarily darker, gory and disturbing than the first book.At times it reminded me of gory parts of The Stand and Swan Song. Some of the plot just didn't make sense and I was left feeling quite frustrated at times. I will give it a listen again in the future, maybe before the third instalment comes out. The story was good, but the flow and writing wasn't on parr with The Passage.

The Passage was just stunning, couldn't wait for the opportunity to put it on in the car orl whilst out on a walk - any excuse! Having waited so long for the sequel I already feared it just couldn't live up to the original and I was right. Don't get me wrong - the story is good, just not incredible as the first was. Also, without giving anything away, it somehow sits at odds with the first. Not a flowing storyline and not a picking up where the last left off. Took a while to get into it and now I have I am enjoying it more. Will I listen to the third instalment? Yes, but I won't be counting down the days til it's written. The reader is superb though.

Let me start by saying that I loved The Passage, the audio version was splendid, great characters, exciting narrative and brilliant writing. I have been looking forward to listening to The Twelve since I finished The Passage 2.5yrs ago, I downloaded it the day it came out. Boy was I in for a sugar crash.

Same great narration by Scott Brick and some great sections of writing but the book has been written so self consiously in the knowledge that it will be translated to the big screen it started to become annoying. There is character cliche after character cliche and no end of bad one liners. The narrative really didn't flow and I started to switch off and really not care what happened to the characters i had loved so much in The Passage. Such a shame that money and hype have some how taken away the soul of what this trilogy could have been.

At the end of reading 'The Passage', part one of Justin Cronin's triology, there was no doubt that I would immediately buy 'The Twelve' and I was not disappointed. The Twelve picks up where The Passage left of and continues the adventure at the same pace and excitement as the first book. This time the story is brought to a satisfying conclusion, or more accurately, a satisfying resting point, while setting the scene for the finale, 'The City of Mirrors'. I'm waiting impatiently...

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Mark

Howrah, Australia

03/01/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"A quality writer and a great plot!"

I was a huge fan of The Passage so was awaiting the release of the next installment with great enthusiasm. The Twelve did not dissapoint, it delivered with regards to both plot and character development. The writing was magnificent and the performance was excellent, which only enhanced the story and made this one of the most pleasurable experiences I have had with an audio book.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Sharon

Brisbane, Australia

07/05/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Not especially surprising end to this series"

This book really added very little to the first. It wasn't full of surprises, rather it just rounded out what we thought would happen after the first book ended.

Narrator - The narrator did quite well with no serious inconsistencies with accents and so forth. I felt that the narrator did nothing to add to the story but did nothing to detract from it either.

Story - Fairly mundane to tell the truth. It sometimes felt like the author got a little lost with his characters. Some of the characters appeared to behave in ways that did not ring true. Having said that I am glad that I finished the series.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Gatambwa

Dublin, Ireland

16/11/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"An Awesome Continuation!!!"

Great continuation to the story. There is no way to know where the story is going to take you which is wonderful. I simply can not wait for the third and final book of the trilogy.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Martin

Ojersjo, Sweden

17/09/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"Still doesn't know what it wants to be"

I reviewed the first book in this series and my conclusion was that it didn't know what it wanted to be. It started out as a mystery thriller with suspense, action and well developed characters. It was interesting. Then it turned into a Mad Max with zombie vampires, and shallow characters. This books goes even further. It has flash-backs to the 'present day' of the first book. Here characters start to get interesting again, and it's like Justin Cronin is back on his own turf. But then you are taken forward to the time period of the second half of the first book. However, now it starts to become more of a fantasy setting, with super humans and sorceresses and fairy tale loyal horses and what have you. At the same time it's a 1984 Big Brother setting with a V for Vendetta coating, or perhaps it is a concentration camp story. The characters that seemed interesting have become caricatures of despotic leaders and their actions and motifs are very much a cliché. Again ther rule change. Suddenly humans can assimilate some of the vampire powers, and become dictators. The vampires are not that much of a threat really and they can all be easily wiped out. Humans are the true threat to humanity. Whaaat?

In this book Scott Brick's over-dramatic narration felt more at home, or perhaps the constant change of story line made me oversee the narration.

Why did I listen to the second book of a series I apparently do not like very much. Well, there is still something to it, so I have to give it a pass with three out of five.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Andy

North Shore City, New Zealand

28/08/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"A worthy follow up to The Passage"

What made the experience of listening to The Twelve the most enjoyable?

Scott Brick brings life to each of the characters so you can just lose yourself in them and the story.

What did you like best about this story?

A great follow on from the 1st book.

What does Scott Brick bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He's Mr Audiobook. No other narrarter seems to bring the depth of narration to books that he does.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Steve

Manchester, United Kingdom

07/04/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"Brilliant"

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Twelve?

All of it

Which scene was your favorite?

Book Two

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Amy, but cant say why, it may ruin the read for someone

Any additional comments?

No

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Liz

East Mackay, Australia

23/01/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"so slow"

i was really looking forward to this book counting down days. it was slow confusing and jumpy, you would start to relate then it would jump to someone new. i put it down pick it back up put it down again. i like my books to keep me guessing and wanting more, to consume my thoughts. this was painfull i only gave it the chance because i loved the first one so much..

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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